(AK) three armed robbery suspects caught

Anchorage police said Monday that they have arrested two young men and a young woman in connection with a string of armed robbery attempts over the weekend, including one in which a pedestrian was shot in the hip.

Smith and Vaughn were each charged with three counts of first-degree robbery and a count of first-degree assault, authorities said. Smith also was charged with tampering with evidence.

Police said Penns is a suspect in only the first of the three attempts. He was charged with one count of first-degree robbery.

All three were at Anchorage Correctional Complex East on Monday afternoon, a booking officer said. Smith's bail was set at $35,000, Vaughn's at $30,000, and Penns' at $7,500.

The first incident occurred downtown at about 6:50 p.m. Saturday, according to police. A 19-year-old man told officers he had been walking on Fifth Avenue near Cordova Street when two men, one holding a handgun, demanded money from him, police said.

"The victim gave them money, and they left in a car," police spokesman Ron McGee said in a written statement. This apparently was the only one of the three robbery attempts in which the victim handed over money, according to police.

The second attempt occurred at about 7:20 p.m. A 48-year-old man told officers he had been walking on 26th Avenue near Spenard Road when a "man with a gun threatened to shoot him if he did not give him money," McGee said.

"The victim told the man he did not have any money, and the man with the gun left in a car," he said.

The third attempt occurred about 10 minutes later in the 1100 block of Nelchina Street, near Fairview Elementary School.

A man named Brad Gabbert was walking there when a man with a handgun demanded money from him, police said.

"When Gabbert told the man he had no money, the man shot Gabbert in the hip," McGee said.

Gabbert, 46, was taken to a local hospital and treated. His condition Monday was unavailable, McGee said.

Using a description of the getaway car provided to police after each of the robbery attempts, officers were able to find it parked in a lot near Third Avenue and E Street about 3 a.m. Sunday, and they talked with the three occupants.

"After a lengthy period of questioning, police determined that Smith and Vaughn were involved in all three incidents," McGee said. "Penns is suspected of participating only in the first robbery."